1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an alarm clock, and, in particular, to such an alarm clock that the alarm-set condition and non-alarm-set condition can be readily distinguished; the alarm-set time can be distinctly indicated when the clock is in alarm-set condition; and the alarm hands do not obstruct the display when the clock is in non-alarm-set condition.
2. Description of the Background Art
Alarm clocks provided with an alarm function which gives a time sounding signal at the time preset by an alarm hand have been used as analog electronic timepieces. A number of proposals have been made on the method of letting the user easily and certainly know whether such alarm clocks are in alarm-set condition or in non-alarm-set condition.
For example, Japanese Patent Publication (Kokoku) No. 51237/1983 proposes a wristwatch with a display window provided on the dial which selectively displays day and date or the information as to whether it is in the alarm-setting condition (ON or OFF). Japanese Patent Publication (Kokoku) No. 7078/1991 proposes an analog electronic timepiece provided with hands which are designed to have double functions; a function as an ordinary time indicating hand and another function as an alarm time indicating hand. To bring the timepiece to the alarm-set condition, the hands are moved to designate the alarming time in advance and remain there until the alarming time comes, whereupon the watch sounds the time signal and the hands return to normal movement.
However, in the timepiece proposed in Japanese Patent Publication (Kokoku) No. 51237/1983, the alarm-set condition must be indicated on a display window by operating the winding stem, a button, or the like to show whether the timepiece is in the alarm-set condition or not. This imposes troublesome load to the wearer and, in addition, carries a structural problem that needs a specific fixture for displaying the alarm-set condition.
On the other hand, although the timepiece proposed in Japanese Patent Publication (Kokoku) No. 7078/1991 does not need to be equipped with additional alarm hands separately, there remains a problem that the wearer cannot know the current time when the timepiece is in the alarm-set condition, because the time indicating hands function as the alarm hands when the timepiece is in the alarm-set condition, indicating the alarm time apart from current time indication.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an alarm clock, overcoming the aforementioned problems of conventional alarm clocks, whose alarm-set condition and non-alarm-set condition can be distinguished instantly without exercising any actions and without providing any additional display fixture for indicating the alarm-set condition, and which is capable of showing current time even when the timepiece is in the alarm-set condition.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an alarm clock in which the alarm hands do not obstruct the display when the clock is in the non-alarm-set condition, by allowing the alarm hands to have the function of time indicating hands by making them to be moved in synchronous motion with the time indicating hands, or by making the alarm hands to be moved together overlapping the time indicating hands.